Buddhism & Buddhist Beliefs – Isn't it time you were enlightened?
In the prehistoric times people did not use the statues of Buddha to worship. Instead, they preferred to symbolize the Buddha. There are some essential Buddhism symbols such as footprint, stupa, dharma wheel and the lotus and in this article I will discus to you the most common and well-believed Buddhism symbol and its representations.
The most common Buddhism symbol is the Buddha’s footprint. According to Buddhists these footprints of the Buddha represents the body of the Lord. These images were copied from ancient stones at Bodh Gaya, India. In fact, this Buddhism symbol has more symbols such as swastikas, lotuses and dharma-wheels. In addition, these footprints exist in many countries like India, China, Japan, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
Another Buddhism symbol is stupa and the meaning of stupa is “heap”. It is a formation like hill which contains Buddhist leftovers. So stupas are very holy for ancient people and stupas are really made up of five constituent parts. Each part has its own meaning and representation. There is a square base in stupa which represents earth. The hemispherical part represents water. The conical portion represents fire. There is a crescent moon which is the sign of air and the dissolving point as well as the circular disc which represents space.
The Lotus and the Dharma-wheel are the other Buddhism symbols. The lotus is deep-rooted in mud but the blossom is open in the sun and it shows very attractive and fragrant. In Buddhism the lotus represents the real character of beings, which rise through “samsara” which is a process of defining the cycle of birth, death and rebirth in Buddhism and Hinduism into the simplicity and majesty of enlightenment. Dharma-wheel includes eight spokes and they represent the eightfold path.
Moreover, there are other important Buddhism Symbols with special five colors such as white, yellow, red, blue and green. In fact, it also tells us to lead out further than the weakness of oppression. These colors symbolize a condition of mind and it is well-believed that spiritual transformations can be achieved with the help of meditation on these different colors.
All people know what Buddhism really is. But maybe the only things they don’t know especially for those who are not follower and believer that the Buddhism was divided in three types and in three sections.
Theravada Buddhism – this is the first and the southern Buddhism that the word comes from pali language which means that “the Doctrine of the Elders”. Their biggest aim is to use the meditation to train mind, and to encourage freedom of the mind from suffering. This kind or freedom suffering will allow you to reach the greatest spiritual goal the Nirvana. Theravada Buddhism is the only surviving school from the earliest years of Buddhism.
Mahayana Buddhism – This is Buddhism in eastern Buddhism. This section only teaches the Pali Canon, this is the religious text in Theravada Buddhism but it also includes additional texts beliefs. This type of Buddhism believes that the person must practice universal compassion, and that is the altruistic quest of the Bodhisattva to attain the “Awakened Mind” of Buddha hood. This has also the level of mysticism involved.
Tibetan Buddhism – This is the third type of Buddhism that was located in the Northern. This type of Buddhism is also considered to be a type of Mahayana Buddhism, but this was also embraces other teachings, texts, and practices that some are not seen in the eastern type. This is also sometimes called Tantric Buddhism or Vajrayana and this was uses both Mahayana and Theraveda scriptures.
